By Walter Broeckx
As we are facing another dull period in the season when our players might get injured when playing for their respective countries I thought it would be a nice moment to have a look at the season and compare this with the last season.
So I took the league table based on all teams having played 11 games. You know a regular league table with games Played, Won, Draw, Lost, goals For, goals Against, Goal Difference and of course PoinTs. The league table you can find on some hundred websites.
But this is Untold so we are not giving you the league table as such. No, we have added 2 extra items. We have added a first column where we show you the number of points each team has won more or not of course. And also comparing the league position last season and this season. If the comparison is positive for this season you will see a ‘+’ in black and if the comparison is negative you will see a ‘-‘ in red.
I know that we are not talking about the same fixtures as last year. But even that comparison is not telling the whole story as teams have changed during the summer and some relegation threatened team from last year can be a team that finds itself high in the league this season. And a high flying team from last season, can suddenly be a mid-table team this season.
Of course for 3 teams we have no comparison material. Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Hull played in another division last season so we could not compare them. But for all the other teams we have some nice material and some real surprising numbers can be found.
As this is an Arsenal website we will start with the team on top: Arsenal. Last season we only managed 16 points after 11 games. So this time we have 9 points more. And last season we found ourselves in 8th position in the league and this time we are the league leaders. We scored 4 goals more and conceded one goal less. So not that bad for what some ‘fans’ call a bad team and a bad manager.
The team in second place Liverpool is also having a good start this season. And as they have no European games to play and went out of the Continental cup at the first hurdle they are only playing weekend games. And this is something that has helped them a lot I think. Liverpool were 13th last season and now in second place. And they also have 11 points more than last season.
But the trophy for the most improved team this season should go to Southampton surely. Last season in their first season they were 19th in the league at this point. Now they are in 3rd place. And they have 17 points more than last season. So the Saints are really performing on a level that nobody really expected so far.
In 4th place we find Chelsea. They have 3 points less compared to last season and have dropped one place in the league compared to last season. And things could have been worse if it weren’t for Marinner who couldn’t keep his bias in check last Saturday.
In 5th place we find the team that has dropped the most points in total apart from West Ham United. Last season at this point Manchester United had 27 points and now they have 20 points. 7 points less than last season. Not a great way to start the season I think. Last season they were league leaders and now only in 5th place. Equal on points with Everton and Tottenham.
Everton has the same number of points as last season but they were in 4th place last season. Tottenham were in 7th place last season and that is also the position they hold for now. But Tottenham do have 3 points more after 11 games than last season. Or should we be saying 3 penalties more than last season?
Another top team that is doing rather bad is Manchester City. They are currently in 8th place in the league and that is 6 positions worse than last season. And they also have 6 points less than last season. So just like United the two teams that won the last titles are not really doing great in the league when we look at all their games. Maybe City should spend some more money?
Newcastle is doing a bit better than last season. 3 more points and 1 position higher in the league table.
West Bromwich Albion was doing what Southampton is doing this season: have a great start. Now WBA have 6 points less and find themselves 5 places lower in the league.
Another team that is doing rather well is Aston Villa. Last season just above the relegation zone but this time firm in mid-table land. 5 Points more and 6 positions higher in the league.
Swansea is having more or less a similar season to last season. 1 point less and 2 positions worse. But not much worrying for the moment. And the same can be said of Norwich. they have the same number of points and are in the same position in the table.
The team that has done worse of all is West Ham United. They have 8 points less compared to last season and that has caused them to drop 10 positions in the league table. Not that good at all.
They are level on points with Stoke who have 2 points less and have dropped 5 positions compared to last season.
The first team in a relegation place is Fulham. Their start is also a very bad one. 6 points less and that has resulted in dropping 9 places in the league table.
Sunderland was having a difficult season last season and find themselves also in a bad position this season. 2 points less and dropping 3 positions.
Overall we can say that only 6 teams had a better number of points this season than they did last season: Arsenal, Liverpool, Southampton, Tottenham, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
Everton and Norwich have the same number of points.
But all the other and that includes all the ‘title contenders’ as the pundits declared them before the season have less points than last season. A fine example on how the pundits know football?
I have the impression that points are harder to win this season. When you look at the top teams we see that they struggle to make a big positive impact (apart from Arsenal and Liverpool). But also at the bottom we see that those teams picked up more points than teams in similar positions picked up till then. Apart from Crystal Palace who seem to be doing a QPR this season.
This all has lead to a league that is more compact. Now there is only a gap of 18 points between the team who is first and the team in 19th place. Last season that gap was 22 points.
My conclusion is that we might have a team that will win the league with a rather low number of points. Points are harder to win against any other team in the league. So consistency will be the key to win the league.
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Earlier posts
- A tactical analysis: Arsenal – Tottenham
- He’s got no hair, but we don’t care: Steve Bould
- Lost a battle, but the war goes on
- Away to United: the preview
- Is there a level playing ground and who cares?
- The officials for the match at Old Trafford
- What makes a team title contenders
Yes Southampton is team which progresed most, comparing to last season, but we sow that so many times, Hull, WBA, Newcastle from few years ago, and they all ended in middle of table after Christmas. And I am afraid same will happen to Southampton, even maybe to Scousers as I am still a bit suspicios how really good they are, and how much rest is bad.
And about us… well improvement is more than obvious, not only comparing points, but also comparing games. I don’t think there are big and less big games (opponents), it is matter of circumstances and situation we play.
In example, after Villa we were (comparing to last seasons) supposed to lose to Fullham. Game vs Palace we were also supposed to lose or draw. Norwich and Swansea were also kind of games in previous seasons we would struggle.
Big games does exist but “size” of game does not depend of rivals in game but from what is at stake. Fullham game was more important than one at OT, and we passed test.
Contrary to what we’ve been told by pundits, consistency has always been the key to winning the leagues. Always have, always will be. We are still by far the most consistent team in the league. All top teams will take points off each other, either at home or away. Man U lost to Liverpool, we beat Liverpool but lost to United. Chelsea beat Man city who beat Man united, who could only draw with Chelsea at home etc.
I fancy our chances because we are collecting points against the smaller teams more effectively than the rest of the top teams. And there much more of those points than points from 3 or 4 rivals.
The Man U game kind of remind me of how Liverpool play Man United. They played us like their lives depended on it. Liverpool would beat Man United and then lose to Stoke City next weekend. Man United’s problems have not suddenly disappeared because of last Sunday’s result. Man City put 7 past Norwich only to lose to Sunderland the following weekend. The 3rd time they’ve lost to a small team this season. Same can be said of Chelsea and Tottenham losing 5 points each in 2 weekends.
Our consistency will pay off in the end and that is why I’m pleading with folks to lay off the team and carry on with our support.
As always Walter a great post and it does indeed indicate a few things:
1)The gap between the haves and the have-nots is not based on monetary advantage as much as it is on attitude and effort.
2)Southampton have always had a great youth development program and with the likes of the OX and Walcott coming from their system, it is no surprise that they are doing so well.
3)The rivalry between the top 4 clubs is now almost on a level playing field what with SAF out of the picture and the PGMOL being liberated. Any one Club can beat any of the other top 4 clubs in that particular mini-league. Therefore it will be, as Bottoomee has rightly pointed out, the clubs that take the ¨easy¨ points who will be consistent and therefore end up top in May.
We didn’t play all that badly against united but showed fatigue and nervousness which hindered our normally fluid play as well as suffering from injuries and illness. Once the break is over, I fully expect the Arsenal to return with a vengeance and start to rack up the points once again. Southampton will be a very big test as they are the other team currently in form but I feel we can handle them if ALL our team show up ready to work.
Southampton has only one way to go, and that’s down… Starting with their travel to Arsenal on 23/Nov.
It’s a pity, but reality checks in sooner or later!
My only take from the ManU game is that they don’t look anywhere close to title contenders. I bet they’ll drop at least 5 points in their next 6 games. We had an off day, probably due to fatigue, yet they had to park the bus in order to escape with a lucky 1-0 win.